Cake of the Day: Fall Apple and Hazelnut Layer Cake from ‘Scandinavian Baking’

By Trine Hahnemann

Every day, Yahoo Food features delectable cakes. They taste good, they look good, and they’re made by good people — talented bakers from around the world. This week we’ll be sharing traditional Scandinavian desserts from Trine Hahnemann and her new cookbook Scandinavian Baking. Check back to Cake of the Day for more gorgeous fall cakes.

Photo: Columbus Leth

Fall Apple and Hazelnut Layer Cake
Serves 12

Perfect for when there are cobnuts or hazelnuts to be picked. I have made this cake for many fall weddings, adding a marzipan wrapping and decorating with Marzipan roses and wild flowers. It looks really fresh and is easy to do.

For the cake
Butter, for the tin
6 large eggs
1 ? cups superfine sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
12 tablespoons calvados or cognac

For the filling
5 tart eating apples, 1 1/8 to 1 1/3 pounds total weight
2 ? cups heavy cream
7 ounces hazelnuts, preferably fresh

For the topping
1?4 cup powdered sugar
1?2 cup hazelnuts, chopped

Photo: Columbus Leth

Bake the cake the day before you want it, or it is too difficult to cut. Take a
9 ?-inch square or a 10-inch round cake tin, line the base with
parchment paper and butter it lightly. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Beat the eggs and sugar together with an electric whisk until light and fluffy;
they should double or triple in volume and turn pale. Sift the flour and baking
powder into the egg mixture and gently fold it in. Pour into the prepared tin and
bake in the hot oven for 25 minutes. Check with a skewer if it is baked all the way through; it should emerge clean from the center of the cake. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack, before removing from the tin. Leave overnight.

For the filling, peel and core the apples and grate them coarsely. Whip the
cream until it billows and chop the nuts finely. Mix them all together.

Cut the cake in three horizontally with a serrated knife. Choose a serving dish
and place the base layer of cake on it. Sprinkle with half the calvados. Spread
one half of the cream evenly over and place on the middle layer. Sprinkle with
the remaining calvados, spread over the remaining cream, then place on the
top layer. Sift over a dusting of powdered sugar and sprinkle with hazelnuts.
Leave 30 minutes to settle before serving.

Reprinted with permission from Scandinavian Baking: Sweet And Savory Cakes and Bakes, For Bright Days and Cozy Nights by Trine Hahnemann.

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